Good news, everybody! The Tsukiji Market's tuna auction has been reopened for tours!

The massive earthquake on March 11 was centered on the northern Tohoku region, but it still shook Tokyo pretty hard. The weeks to follow also saw a number of hardly comparable but somewhat substantial aftershocks. Out of safety and liability concerns, the Tsukiji Fish Market decided on March 14 to close its famous early morning tuna auction to tourists. Now, some months on and without any major aftershocks, the doors have reopened to those of you energetic enough (or jet lagged enough) in the morning to get up at the break of dawn and make your way down to the market. Some of the details have been altered, so let me give you a breakdown below:

Number of Visitors
The number of visitors permitted has been changed from 140 to 120 per day, on a first come, first served basis.

Reception
Reception is still handled at the Fish Information Center 1st floor (near the Kachidoki Bridge entrance), but the time has changed from 4:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.

Tour Operation
Visitors will be broken into two groups of 60. The first group will be taken into the auction from 5:25 - 5:50 a.m. and the second group from 5:50 - 6:15 a.m.

As always, the rules like no touching the fish and no flash photography (taking pics without flash OK, of course) apply. The market welcomes you to visit but also asks you to keep in mind that this is a (very busy) place of business and its workers' bread and butter, so please remain mindful and respectful if you decide to check it out.

For more info about visiting, here's the official site:
http://www.shijou.metro.tokyo.jp/english/market/tsukiji.html

Sunrise Tours that visit Tsukiji (outer market, not the tuna auction):
http://www.japanican.com/tours/list.aspx?kw=tsukiji

Hotels in Tsukiji:
http://www.japanican.com/hotels/List.aspx?ar=A03&sar=130108&so=c

2nd day in Kamikochi, we walked from Kappabashi bridge to Myojinike pond. We stopped at Kamonjigoya to eat the famous iwana (river trout) grilled over an irori.

Iwana is well grilled for 40 minutes. You can eat a whole fish.
It tastes great and go with beer!

Grilled iwana with salt (900 yen)

Kamonjigoya was built in 1880 by Kamonji Kamijyo. He was a good hunter and knowledgeable mountain guide. He guided Walter Weston, a British missionary and mountaineer who introduced the 'Japan Alps' to overseas.

Photos taken on July 17, 2011
at Kamikochi, Nagano

Kamikochi Hotels and RyokanKamikochi

Kamikochi Train & Hotel PackageVisit the pristine mountain resort of Kamikochi with this discount travel package. This package includes round-trip transportation from Shinjuku to Matsumoto, the entrance to the Kamikochi area, via limited express train (approx. 3 hours). It also includes a 2-day bus pass for local transportation in Kamikochi.

2-Day Matsumoto/Kamikochi (Japanese Alps) Train & Hotel Package (Kamikochi Myojinkan)

2-Day Matsumoto/Kamikochi (Japanese Alps) Train & Hotel Package (Kamikochi Shimizuya Hotel)

I stayed in Kamikochi, Nagano last weekend. I woke up at 5 a.m. and went for a morning walk. What a nice morning!

Photos taken on July 17, 2011
at Kamikochi, Nagano

Kamikochi Hotels and RyokanKamikochi

Kamikochi Train & Hotel PackageVisit the pristine mountain resort of Kamikochi with this discount travel package. This package includes round-trip transportation from Shinjuku to Matsumoto, the entrance to the Kamikochi area, via limited express train (approx. 3 hours). It also includes a 2-day bus pass for local transportation in Kamikochi.

2-Day Matsumoto/Kamikochi (Japanese Alps) Train & Hotel Package (Kamikochi Myojinkan)

2-Day Matsumoto/Kamikochi (Japanese Alps) Train & Hotel Package (Kamikochi Shimizuya Hotel)

The Kumagaya Uchiwa Festival is a Gion Festival celebrated every year in Saitama Prefecture's Kumagaya City. Historically a rice and red bean dish called sekihan would be prepared to ward off illness and pray for health, but in Kumagaya this traditional dish was replaced by paper fans, called uchiwa, which accounts for the current name of the festival. Participants are welcomed to take part in pulling the massive floats and playing taiko drums and festival music. Those new to Japanese festivals and finding themselves a bit shy of jumping right into the thick of things are encouraged to visit the information center.

Visitors may want to note that the festival float displays and parades on the 7/20 (from 7 p.m.), 7/21 (from 1 p.m.) and 7/22 (from 8 p.m.) are of particular interest.

Date: July 20 (Wednesday) - 22 (Friday)

Access: North of JR Kumagaya Station.

The 61st annual Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival will be held in the city of Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture's coastal Shonan area from Friday, July 8. The festival features about 500 brightly colored decorations, and in the main area near JR Hiratsuka Station, there are about 80 ornate decorations that are over a staggering 10 meters tall. Hiratsuka's local flavor comes through with many of the decorations featuring popular athletes, characters and animals.

Date: July 8 (Friday) - 10 (Sunday)

Time: Until 7:00 p.m.

Access: The main area of the festival is the Shonan Star Mall shopping arcade outside the North Exit of JR Hiratsuka Station.

Matsumoto Castle, which is listed as a National Treasure of Japan, took 3rd place of "Must-see Attractions in Japan Awarded by Inbound Travelers" by TripAdvisor.

I got this news and some interesting photos from someone who lives in Matsumoto city.

Let's take a commemorative photo with Samurai!

Beautiful sunset and silhouette of the castle.

From the observatory at the city office of Matsumoto.

The official tourism site of Matsumoto city. Matsumoto Welcomes You!